PNR Status

India’s very first Shatabdi Double Decker train – everything you must know

Leave a comment

Much to the happiness of many passengers, the Indian Railways recently made an announcement which said that the country’s first Shatabdi double-decker air conditioned train, the Shatabdi, will soon run from the commercial capital to Goa. The double-decker train has been introduced due to the increasing demand for tickets during winter holidays.

In India, the first double-decker train took off in the October of 2011, which still operates between Dhanbad in Jharkhand to Howrah in West Bengal. Also, other routes too have been taken by other double-decker trains. However, this is the first time when a Shatabdi Express will get double-decker coaches.

Let us get a brief about the Shatabdi Express
Congress Minister Madhav Rao Sindia inaugurated the First Shatabdi train in the country in 1988 as a commemoration of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s 100th birth anniversary.
Every Shatabdi train is only a day train. They return to their respective stations by 11 Pm daily. They do not operate at night.
The fastest train in the country is the Shatabdi Express, which runs between the capital and the city of Habibgaj in Bhopal. It runs at a speed of 140 km per hour.

Let us see which track routes have the double-decker trains
Ahmadabad-Mumbai: India’s first superfast double-decker air conditioned train ran between Ahmadabad in Gujarat and Mumbai in September 2012.  This train usually takes 8 hours to complete a distance of 490 kms between the two major cities.

Howrah-Dhanbad: India’s first ever train to get double-decker was flagged off from the Howrah station to Dhanbad station. The service began on October 1, 2011. After the introduction of this train, our country became the third one after England and USA to run double-decker trains. In around in 5 hours, the train covers a distance of 250 kms.

Chennai-Bangalore: This train consists of 12 coaches. With its three engine coaches, this train has 12 double-decker chair coaches. It takes around 5 hours to cover the distance of 458 kms.

Delhi-Jaipur: India’s second shortest and frequently used train which is double-decker runs between Jaipur and Delhi. The service was flagged off on August 15, 2012. It runs 300 kms within 5 hours 30 minutes.

Flying Rani: One of India’s oldest operating trains: Flying Rani Express was introduced by the British as a weekend special train between the cities of Mumbai and Surat. Called the Queen of the Western Coast, Flying Rani runs for about 5 hours 20 minutes. Its double-decker coaches were only recently included. The train still runs on its original single decks, sometimes.

Kacheguda-Tirupati: The Indian Railways, in order to manage the flow of pilgrims to Tirupati, announced a double-decker train between Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Kacheguda in Hyderabad last year. This train runs on 625 kms within 10 hours 30 minutes.

Guntur-Kacheguda: The newly formed state of Telengana got its second double-decker train, named the Guntur-Kacheguda Express on May 13, 2014. The train runs from Guntur and scheduled to run on 285 kms within 6 hours 10 minutes.

If you plan to travel in any of these trains, get your tickets booked well in advance and not to forget to check pnr status railway before leaving your place. Which deck would you prefer? Upper or lower?

Indian Rail Info

Facts about Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus we bet you didn’t know!

Leave a comment

Out of all the major railway junctions of India, the most popular one is the CST. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, previously known as the Victoria Terminus or VT, is Mumbai’s biggest railway station. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and also the headquarters of the Central Railway, which has many interesting facts to its name. Let us read a few.

The first railway station of the country:

On 16th April, 1853, the iconic first passenger train of the country was operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It covered a distance of 40kms from Borivali to Thane, and gave birth to the Indian Railways. CST was eventually named as Victoria Terminus after the then Queen, but subsequently came to be popularly known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, after the Maratha 17th century king. CST is also one of the oldest railway stations all over the world. Most particular aspect of the station is the dome, seen in many famous Bollywood movies. After the 26/11 attacks, the beauty of the station was partially diminished. Damaged portions were rebuilt and the station is as beautiful as before.

The reason for constructing the station:

The station was designed by the famous designer Frederick William Stevens. Also, influences from the Victorian and Gothic revival along with the traditional Mughal architecture, was used in the construction. The station was constructed in 1887 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the great Queen Victoria. It was after the construction of this station that the railway became popular in India.

Total time taken in its construction:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus took a total of 10 years for its completion. This is the longest time taken for constructing any railway station in India. The station is an architectural landmark built in the Gothic-revival architecture as the headquarters for the central Railway. The brilliant architect has been there for over a 100 years. The station is always very crowded with over 200 trains running to and from the station daily.

The renaming of the station in 1996:

The Railway Minister of India, Suresh Kalmadi, in 1996, changed the name Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the leader and founder of the great Maratha dynasty, Chhatrapati Shivaji. However, even now, most people call it as VT station, especially the taxi drivers of Mumbai.

The total number of commuters:

Along with being a UNESCO world heritage site, this Terminus is the very soul of the commercial capital. Every single day, around 3 million commuters use the station for traveling either to the various suburbs of the city or to anywhere else in the country. The local train passengers outnumber the express train passengers. The local trains itself are a pride of Mumbai.

If you are planning a visit to Mumbai from a distant place, get your Indian railways reservation online.

It is said that a visit to Mumbai is incomplete without seeing the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. So even if you go by flight, do not miss to visit the railway station!

Running Train Status

The latest initiatives made by the Indian Railways

Leave a comment

The Indian Railways is constantly improving and developing. It has come up with quite a few new innovations in the recent past and has proposed many more. They want to ensure their passengers not just a comfortable but also a reliable travel experience.

Here are the latest initiatives by the Indian Railways for a ‘happy journey’

As per the reports, this scheme has been launched on pilot basis and the service will be available in more than 200 cities initially. Customers can book a ticket 5 days prior to commencement of journey and can get it delivered at home where the payment can be made.

  1. The cash on delivery payment method for booking tickets

For customers, who do not have access to the net banking facilities and for those who do not prefer using their credit or debit cards for online transactions, the Indian Railways introduced the COD–Cash on Delivery payment system. You can book online but pay in cash. If the reports are to be trusted, the COD scheme has been launched on the basis of the pilots and initially, the service will be available in not more than 200 cities. The passenger can book the ticket online before six days of the journey’s commencement and can have the ticket delivered on their address for the payment.

  1. Eco-friendly vacuum toilets on the train

The Railway Minister, in the Rail budget 2015-2016 announced that the Indian Railways would install 100 vacuum toilets in Shatabdi Express on the Delhi-Chandigarh route. However, this is for trial basis and if the initiative turns out well, each train in India will have vacuum toilets.

Vacuum or the eco-friendly toilets are very important since they prevent any kind of corrosion on railway tracks when the train is stopped for discharging all the waste on the tracks.

There are also plans of swapping the toilets with bio-friendly ones.driverless_metro

  1. Free wifi at stations and in trains

There are quite a few luxury trains, which have already been providing wifi connectivity since quite some time, but Prime Minister Modi wants that at least ten more long express trains get wifi. It is likely that priority will be extended to Rajdhani, Duronto and the Shatabdi express.

Also, the railways are looking forward to offer free Wi-Fi facilities to a total of 400 railway stations in the country, but it can be used for only 30 minutes.

Bangalore railway station became the foremost station in India to get Wi-Fi facility for offering high-speed connectivity to the passengers. This service began in October 2014. Later, the service started at Ahmadabad railway station on 31st January, 2015.

  1. Bullet trains – Indian Railways came up with a proposal of high-speed bullet trains in the country on the 2015 Republic Day Parade. Bullets trains will run only on three routes by the end of this year.

With such a lot of emancipation in the railway sector, from the facility to spot ur train to the availability of nutritious food to vacuum toilets, our country sure is moving ahead on the tracks of development.

PNR Status

PNR Is Your Short Cut to a Hassle Free Journey

Leave a comment

 India is if not most, one of the most diverse countries both on the basis of culture and geographical conditions. With fastest growing economy in the world tag, India has done even better and the connectivity among people is one of the fundamental requirements for better growth at the faster pace. This work of reducing the gap between people has been done by none other than Indian Railways, although there are other modes of transportation, but, undoubtedly, Indian Railways is way ahead when it comes to connecting people emotionally too.

Indian Railways is pioneering more and more technical options for the betterment of its services and no doubt that, in recent years, with the help of technical advancements, it has raised it service experience by several notch. Not only in connecting people but also in connecting various industrial hubs, Indian Railways has come a long way since then.

One of the first initiatives of Indian Railways keeping in mind the need of today’s generation was launching of IRCTC, which enabled passengers to book the online ticket, which is absolutely hassled free and it was not at all time consuming.

pnr-status

One such service for passengers who have waitlist tickets or RAC tickets can check their seat status with the help of PNR number generated while booking your ticket. We all must be aware of PNR, it stands for Passenger Name Record, is automatically generated number by Railway automated servers while you book your ticket, and this PNR number is indeed very helpful in tracking your details, like seat details, passenger details, etc.

There are many ways of checking your PNR status and you can use any of them according to your convenience. Here are some of them.

  • Checking your PNR status online

The simplest way to check the PNR status. If you have a waitlisted ticket or RAC, you are worried about its final status and you don’t know how to check it? Just visit online website of Indian Railways or IRCTC. There is an option of ‘Get PNR status’, click on that, look for your PNR number on the upper left corner of your ticket, enter the PNR number and get the status.

You can also check your PNR status on websites other than official websites of Indian Railways. Examples are travelkhana.com etc.

  • Getting PNR status on mobile via SMS

Not all people use the internet and nor they have great knowledge about the internet. The other way to get your PNR status on mobile is using the tele services of Indian Railways, by dialing 139. You can also use other numbers like 5676747, 54959, all you have to do is to send PNR number to any of the above numbers and they will send PNR status to mobile.

  • Checking PNR status via mobile APP

Keeping in mind the next generation, Indian railways has launched its own APP, which can be used for so many things from booking tickets to checking PNR status. All you have to do is to download the app and get the services.

Railway Reservation Rules

Railway Tickets… Just Under Clicks…!!

Leave a comment

India is famous for many things. One such thing would be its extensive rail network. Talking about the prices, you can get nothing cheaper..! The numbers speak about the might of Indian railways. It has a track length of 1,15,000 and about 7,112 stations across the country. It provides employed for lakhs of people out there. It would be interesting to note railways transport about 17 to 20 million passengers per day. So, if you are planning to take a train, get your Indian railways reservation online as early as possible for a comfortable journey.official indian railway

Book Your Train Ticket Online…

It is to be remembered that in online booking of train tickets, your seat gets confirmed only on completion of the payment process. There are multiple sources of payment like debit cards and online banking. If you are planning to book a ticket for yourself, then this is all what you have to do:

  • IRCTC, which stands for Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, is the official website for all your railway activities, queries and info. To book a ticket for yourself, you must register in this website. It costs you nothing more than a couple of minutes of your time.
  • Once the process of registration is done, log in to your account. You can find the columns named ‘source station’ and ‘destination station’ waiting for your inputs. Fill them accordingly. In no time, a list of all available trains and their timings will be displayed on your screen.
  • Choose the train of your choice by selecting your desired class. On completion of this selection process, click on ‘book now’ option to proceed to the payment section.
  • Here, you need to fill the basic info of the passenger like name, age, gender, seat preference and other such stuff.
  • Choose your payment mode and get your ticket confirmed.

Get a print out of your online ticket. You will also get confirmation mail and a message to your registered mobile number.

Oops…! Did You Lose Your Online Ticket…?

Is your online printed ticket lost..? Have you booked it through IRCTC official website..? You don’t have to worry at all. This process is real simple when compared to the claiming of a lost offline ticket. Log in to the official IRCTC website and search for the option “booked ticket history”. This link shows you all your tickets booked online. Find the one which you lost and get another print out of it. You can do it by clicking on the option “print ticket button”. However, if you have booked your ticket through the agents, then you are left with no other choice then approaching these agents who helped you out in getting your ticket. In reality, these agents shouldn’t charge you for getting a duplicate of your ticket. Imagine, what if you lose your ticket after boarding the train..? Then you are left with absolutely no choice other than paying the required amount as asked by the TC. However, you can reclaim your amount by submitting an application to the Railways Reservation Administrator. You will be granted the amount after the inquiry process.

Indian Railway Time Table

Key To Make Your Train Trip Better..!

Leave a comment

Railways are the most widely used means of transportation in India since ages. Despite an incredible increase in the magnitude of the railways, we need to accept that, the demand is still on top of it. Knowing the timetable is the key to make a time saving journey.

A Few Facts to Know About Indian Railways:

  • Indian railways have the world’s most extensive railway tracks. Have you ever imagined the magnitude of our railway network..? About 14,300 trains in India cover a distance, which is equal to three and half times the distance between the earth and the moon, everyday..!
  • They have got deep roots in India. The first railway track was laid long back in 1853 between Bombay and Thane. Since then, newer tracks and trains are introduced every year to meet the increasing demand of people. Today, they have changed the pace of the Indian economy and administration.
  • Let’s have a quick look at the numbers associated with the railways. It has a track length of 63,028 km and about 7000 odd railway stations across India. It helps 13 million people every day to reach their destinations. Employment opportunities are created for 1.55 million people.

Sources:

If you want to make a safe and comfortable trip, make sure to check out the train time table before you leave to the railway station. When we say time table, we mean to say the arrival and departure times of trains at various stations. Check out various sources to know about the train time table:

  • One of the best initiatives made by the Indian railways is providing online access to its services. Millions of passengers have benefited from these services and we need to accept that this is helping us to have a better traveling experience. Just check out the official website of Indian railways and get to know every detail you want. Apart from the official website, there are also others websites which bring you this information. So all that you need to do is, just type your query in the search engine and allow it to generate results for you. Train name and number can be used to generate specific results.
  • For a quicker search, you can download various apps, which let you know about the schedule of trains. One of the most followed and classic source in this aspect is the book “Trains at a glance” published by the Indian railways itself annually.

train-platform-information

Be Updated:

Every year the ministry releases the time table with all the changes made. It’s important to be updated with these modifications. These salient features, which are released annually, generally include the following:

  • It is majorly concerned about the changes in the arrival and departure timings of the trains.
  • It also specifies if there are any new trains in a particular route.
  • In case of high demand from people, the railway department arranges some extra trips.
  • Any hike in the fares or changes in reservation criteria will be mentioned.
  • Extensions of existing trains and speeding up of their time travel will be stipulated.
  • The train number is one thing, which we mostly use to identify it. Often, changes in the number can be made by the railway department. Have a keen eye on these numbers.
Indian Railway Time Table

Lifeline of the Country: Indian Railways

Leave a comment

The population of India is growing faster than ever; we need more and more connectivity. Since its inception, the Indian Railways has been at our service and it has been upgrading its services for our comfort ever since. With growing population, Indian Railways has been introducing more and more trains. There are many special trains, many trains just for festive season while many trains are just operated for a week, and so on; Indian Railways has been introducing new trains every year on regular basis. In such a case when so many new trains are being introduced at higher frequency maintaining a time table is a difficult task even though it is all done by computer. From a traveler’s point of view, it is even more hectic when it comes to planning the journeys. Seeing a railway time table for the first time can be confusing specially if you don’t have any idea about station codes, but it becomes easy once you are okay with these names, codes and numbers.

The Advent of Timetable

The timetable of Indian railways is made with great caution so that no confusion occurs in commuter’s mind. These tricky timetables are made separately for each Railway zone. Before planning your journey, try to remember the train names and whether the train is UP or DOWN as train numbers can be very confusing. To plan your travel according to the timetable, you must follow some simple steps and also you must have the knowledge of various things about Indian Railways, like the classes, Stations, and etc.

eajwWDZ6nJnx7UNMarSFNDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBV9ip2J1EIeUzA9paTSgKmv

Be Careful With Certain Glitches

You can find these timetables at various websites including the official website of IRCTC and Indian Railways. Please check that you do not check an old time table, as Indian Railways keeps changing the timetable on regular basis and a curricular is published on their website and various news sites, regarding the same.

The timetable can be very helpful if you don’t have smartphones and your train is delayed. The worse happens when you have another train to catch with a little gap and your train gets delayed. Here comes the helpfulness of timetable as with the help of these charts, you can reserve a seat in other train matching up with your new timings due to the delayed train.

Keeping Your Comfort in Mind

Also keeping in the mind the rush, you can book the ticket in advance. The Indian Railways has extended the advance reservation period up to four months for the sake of passenger’s convenience. Also, once you book your ticket, you must carry a valid identity proof of yours as travelling in a train without a valid identity proof will be considered same as without ticket and you will have to pay the penalty. The tickets can be booked online or offline but be sure of your journey dates. If due to some circumstances you cancel your tickets, you are charged some percent of the total amount.

Indian Railways have always been making the country proud and in real sense it is the life line of this great nation.

Keep travelling and yes, of course, mind the numbers of timetable.

Indian Railway Time Table

Tips for Planning Your Journey

Leave a comment

Indian railway is without a second thought the lifeline of our country. It is such a wide network and it carries nearly 23 million passengers every day. With so many trains running round the clock, planning your travel could be a frightening task. It takes a lot of planning by the railway employees to plan train timings and keep them as they are supposed to be. But sometimes trains get delayed due to certain circumstances. This makes travelling more difficult. Hence, it is important that you plan your travel and to do that you must know and keep certain things in mind.

1) Classes of Indian train: There are six classes for travelling in Indian railways. To begin with, we have 1st AC which is luxurious, Air-conditioned and most expensive of all. There are 2 or 4 berths and a wash basin in a cabin. It comes with bedding and is very luxurious. Next to 1st AC is 2nd Ac. It is also Air-conditioned with 4 bunks together and 2 on the side. These are not as fancy as 1st Ac but still luxurious. It comes in half the cost of 1st Ac along with the bedding. The 3rd AC has 6 bunks in a compartment and 2 on the sides. These are usually more crowded than the 1st and 2nd AC and isn’t luxurious at all. It doesn’t come with bedding. Then comes 1st class Non-AC. This is much cheaper and doesn’t come with bedding and Air-Condition. You will also come across sleeper class, which is usually crowded. It is like 3rd AC, but it doesn’t have Air-condition and bedding. And then there is unreserved class, which is amazingly crowded and cheap. These are open cars and have benches for seating. In some short distance trains, you will also get to see AC chair cars.

railway-ruckus-aaaaa-3_660_092013095500

2) Special tips: If you are planning to see the real India, you must travel in sleeper class because real India travels in sleeper and unreserved compartments. But if you cannot stand the crowd, you have an overnight journey, you have a long journey ahead or if you seek comfort and luxury during travel, you should consider travelling in AC coaches. For short journey, you can travel in AC chair car.

3) Reservations: It is better to plan your journey in advance. Reservations can be hard to get on the last moment. And if you don’t plan your travel in advance, you might miss certain benefits. For example, if you book a ticket for a journey of more than 500 km, you can take a 2 days break at any station enroute after 500 km. Also, a single circular journey ticket includes 8 days of breaks in between. But if you are not the kind of person who plans their travel in advance, you can book your ticket in tatkal, but it is expensive. You can book your travel tickets online as well through IRCTC or other websites that provide such facility. You can either take the printout or carry your ticket on your phone in form of message sent by the booking site.

PNR Status

Best Mobile Apps for Tracking PNR Status

Leave a comment

After you have booked a ticket in wait list or RAC, your priority turns to be checking the status of your reservation every now and then. But then you cannot always check it on your laptop and sometimes using mobile browser gets irritating. Well then, I have for you some smart android apps for checking the Indian railway PNR status on your mobile. So, let’s go:

1) PNR status and Train info: You can download this app from your Google pay store and check you PNR status by clicking on the PNR status from the main menu and then entering the PNR number. You can also check the status from your IRCTC account via this app. Apart from this, you also get options for saving your e-tickets, trains running between stations, train schedules, train running status, seat availability and fares.

2) Indian rail PNR status enquiry: The interface of this app is very simple. You open the app, enter your PNR number and obtain the status. It saves the PNR number in its memory so when you want to check it again you don’t have to have the number at hand. You just have to enter first one or two digits and the number will be displayed in the list.

pnr-status

3) PNR and Indian rail enquiry: This app has a beautiful UI, and with this app, you can check your PNR anytime and anywhere. You can easily plan your travel and check your PNR with this app. Apart from this, you can also see your PNR history, book tickets via IRCTC, Find trains, check seat availability, inquire about fair and so on. You can also mail all the details to your friends through this app.

4) PNR status: This app works brilliantly on all handsets and software platforms. Along with PNR status, you can also check other details. It has both SMS support and internet support that can be selected as per your ease. It also saves your PNR number hence you only have to remember first few digits.

5) PNR status notifier: Through this app, you can book your tickets and automatically get notified about its wait list status. You can also check your PNR status. This app keeps you notified about your PNR status. It is simple to use and is hassle free.

6) IRCTC info-PNR status: You can get this app from your mobile’s play store. It is a platform provided by IRCTC for keeping a track of your reservations. Just enter your PNR number and the details will be displayed on your screen.

7) Indian Railway PNR status: After you have done your reservation, a 10-digit numeric code is generated, which is called passenger name record or PNR in short. This PNR number is used for keeping track of your reservation. To check your PNR status, you can download this app in your phone. It works well with every model and versions. You simply have to put the 10 digits numeric code given to you along with your reservation details and it will show you the status of your reservation.

Indian Rail Info

Google India to provide Wi-Fi in every train!

Leave a comment

People these days are glued to their phones and most youngsters travel by the train for college and work. Since at some stations the signals are awfully low, Wi-Fi can help. Well, Indians railways will soon have high speed Wi-Fi in trains across 400 stations in India.

modi-sundar alt twitter
Google will be helping the rail sector to get Wi-Fi for all the convenient stations across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the U.S headquarters of Google and asked them to participate to help India become Digital; Google India too has taken a major step to help the people, who want access to the web.

The Indian Railways operated one of the largest rail networks and Rail Tel, Google’s team is working on bringing high speed internet to major stations in the next few months. The CEO of Google India has stated that the network will expand in a jiffy and reach some of the busiest stations across the country by the end of 2016. He also added that the speed is going to be fast and will have no problems at all.

People who are bored whilst travelling will soon be able to enjoy and download games, videos, movies, songs and much more by this Wi-Fi network. Google India is also planning to expand at almost every station possible with the help of Rail Tel and other partners, in the coming future.

Google had also launched the Android One in the previous year to help all the people to get access of smartphones and internet to explore and learn more. They have also made YouTube and Google Maps available offline plus you can download web pages faster without spending your data balance. There is nothing Google isn’t doing to help the people.

Not just all this but to also help those who cannot read or speak English, Google India had launched the Indian Language Internet Alliance in the previous year. This service has been helping a lot of people who do not have any access to English language. Hindi searches, keyboards and supports have made it easier for every person to use the web pages.

We are sure this Wi-Fi project is going to make life easier for everyone travelling daily by the trains. This is also a good mode for the safety of women and young kids, who have internet features in their phones. People will soon be able to quickly Google search any emergency numbers and contacts when they need it.

All About Indian railway – Food Delivery in Train